


New Rhythms

by dauntless_dragayn



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Connor Murphy Lives (Dear Evan Hansen), Gen, Impromptu dancing, Oneshot, Zoe is a good sister, a little bit of mischief, connor is a good brother, jk theres never too much, obvs, other than that idk how this relates to canon it doesnt matter, so zoe will be a senior, the murphy siblings, they bond a lil!!! its a cute good time, theyre not in a great place yet but theyre getting better, this takes place the summer after connor's senior year, way too much teenage dirtbag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dauntless_dragayn/pseuds/dauntless_dragayn
Summary: It's a fine summer day, Connor is having some rare fun and Zoe is living a little.(some wholesome sibling bonding)
Relationships: Connor Murphy & Zoe Murphy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	New Rhythms

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a gift for an exchange that my DEH group chat did!!!!! I love you guys<3 And I'm posting it for others to read too because frankly there isn't enough Murphy sibling focused content in the world.  
> Also if you don't know [this song](https://youtu.be/FC3y9llDXuM) already I recommend you listen to it first for the Complete experience ehehe

“ _Yeah, I’m just a teenage dirtbag babyyy!_ ” Connor’s voice cracks about five times singing that, but he doesn’t even care.

He’s in a rare good mood. Probably because he has the house to himself, for once. Zoe is at her summer job and his parents are out at a social function which he’d very politely turned down an invite to. (‘ _Fuck, no_ ’ was his first thought when they asked him if he’d like to come along, but he was proud of himself for not saying that because they would have taken it much too seriously. And the fact that they’d invited him at all - meaning they trusted him to behave - was yet another sign of their slowly mending relationship.)

He’d stolen - _borrowed_ \- Zoe’s bluetooth speaker to blast some music with. And it hadn’t exactly started out like this, but he’d gotten too warm in his usual hoodie and flung it off dramatically, which had definitely devolved into him dancing like a moron around the house. Hey- at least he’s self aware. There is an energy in the air he can’t really deny; maybe it’s the sunlight streaming in through the windows, maybe it’s the ADHD. (he decided to blame that)

So it’s because he has the volume all the way turned up, or because the AC unit is blasting in the background, that he doesn’t hear the car pulling into the driveway. 

“‘ _Cuz I’m just a teenage dirtbag baby, listen to Iron Maiden with me baby!_ ” He strums mightily on the air guitar, sliding down the hardwood floor hallway of the foyer on his socks. 

And then the door opens and Zoe walks in. She freezes mid-step, eyes huge. Connor scrambles on his feet, not having quite stopped sliding, balance completely thrown off. He windmills his arms wildly to keep himself from falling on his ass. “AH, fuck shit- Zoe?!”

“ _Connor?_ Dude what are you..” Her eyes unfocus and she tilts her head. “Hey is that my speaker??”

“Uh, yeah, I-”

“And what is _playing_?” She interrupts him, stepping in further and finally closing the door behind her. “Is this really your taste in music?” She raises a playful eyebrow at him.

“Okay hold on.” Connor pants a second, still out of breath. He’s definitely not used to messing around like he just was. “You are _not_ fucking saying Teenage Dirtbag is a bad song. No way. Tell me you’re not.”

_“Man I feel like mold,”_ The lyric plays before she can respond, and she bursts out into laughter. 

And like, okay, Connor normally relates to it, in a depressingly pitiful way, but he’s gotta admit it’s a pretty fucking funny line. He laughs a little too, after a second. 

“And what were you even _doing_ anyway?” Zoe asks. 

“Nothing,” He says immediately. 

She narrows her eyes at him. “Liar. Wait. That was _you_ singing too wasn’t it- oh my god. You were fucking _jamming_.”

He flushes. “ _No_ -”

“You totally were!” Her voice raises and she jumps and points at him. “Oh my god!”

He steps back and crosses his arms. “Whatever,” He mutters. But for once, he’s not actually that mad. 

She guffaws again, and this time it lasts a minute. She’s clutching her stomach in mirth by the time she speaks. “Okay, okay- a song that can make my brother dance must be something.”

“It’s a classic! You’re telling me you’ve never heard it??” He may be a moron, but he’s gotta defend his music tastes at least. 

She shakes her head. “Nope.” 

“Alright that’s just- that’s just sad.” He starts walking away. He hears her set her bag on the ground next to her. 

“What-?”

“I’m gonna go restart it!” He says over his shoulder. 

“Oh my god,” Zoe said in delight. “Are you sure you’re Connor?? Have you been possessed? Who is this really?”

Connor just rolls his eyes. 

“I want my brother back!” She shouts after him.

“Shut up!” For some reason there’s a big grin on his face.

He picks up his phone from its place on the speaker in the living room and starts the song from the beginning. He turns back to Zoe, who’s walked in after him. Her arms are crossed stubbornly. When he keeps quiet as the lyrics start up she jokingly pouts “You’re not gonna sing for me?? Where’s the karaoke version-” She reaches for his phone and he jumps in front of it, holding his arms out. 

“Nonono- fuck off!”

“Okay fine,” She says with a laugh. Then she turns away a bit and closes her eyes. Connor’s not sure what she’s doing until her head starts nodding to the music a bit. Actually giving it a chance. Something about the sight of her; standing there in her clothes from work, hair still tied up in a ponytail, loose strands halo-ing her face held in an attentive little smile, fills Connor’s chest with affection for his little sister. It’s a feeling he’s not used to; getting to see her this relaxed in his presence. But he’s starting to notice these moments, more often. Slowly. And every time he’s learning to be grateful, even if he can’t say it. 

Then she strikes a pose, kneeling and throwing an arm up and another to her chest. “ _Man I feel like mold_ ,” She says dramatically in time to the song. Connor bursts out into a surprised laugh, and she bows.

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Wait!” Connor shushes her. He laughs self consciously and then straightens, imitating the ridiculous voice of the girl in the song. “ _I’ve got two tickets to Iron Maiden baby, come with me Friday, don’t say maybe-_ ”

“Oh my GOD!” Zoe shrieks, jumping back and holding a hand to her mouth. Her cackling reminds him of a time when they were much younger, when Connor’s favorite thing to do was getting her to laugh, and hearing this meant he’d succeeded in the best way. 

“ _I’m just a teenage dirtbag baby, like you_ ,” And he points at her, just for the effect. It sets her off giggling all over again. 

“Wait wait no I got it now-” She says, cutting herself off despite being out of breath. “ _I’m just a_ \- shit.”

“He doesn’t sing it again,” Connor breaks it to her. 

“Damn! Well then restart it!” 

“Okay, okay!” 

When Connor picks up his phone again, there’s a text from his mom. 

**Hi honey! We’ll be on our way home soon! Do you want any leftovers from the Browns?**

“Oh mom and dad are gonna be home soon.” Connor says idly, opening his phone.

“What?” Zoe yelps. He looks up in confusion at her tone. Her eyes are wide. “I thought they weren’t coming back ‘til later?” 

“Yeah I think that’s what they said.” Connor narrows his eyes. “But why do you care?” The music has been forgotten. 

A defensive expression crosses her face. And it occurs to him- “Hey wait. Why did you get out of Spillin’ Beans early?” 

“Uh..” 

“No way. You’re not supposed to be off, are you?” 

She tenses, crossing her arms. “No but-”

A huge grin grows on Connor’s face. “No _way_! Zoe? The perfect, good girl, _Zoe_ , ditching?” 

“I’m not- oh please!” She scoffs, reddening. 

Connor raises an eyebrow. “What else would you call this?”

“Okay fine!” She throws her arms out. “I never actually went. I’ve just been driving around all morning. It’s way too nice out to be inside at the fucking cafe! And I knew my boss wouldn’t be there today, because it’s Saturday, and Moe will cover for me. But mom and dad can’t know! They’re gonna kill me!” She moans, pulling her hair tie out and letting her ponytail come down.

Internally, he can’t help but be amused. This is a pretty minor infraction, all things considered. But he can tell Zoe doesn’t see it that way - she is genuinely stressed. 

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” She sighs, flopping onto the couch. 

“Look,” He says. “First of all, this is the most rebellious thing I’ve ever seen you do, and I’m kind of loving it. Second-”

“Oh shut _up_!”

“I’m serious!” He laughs. “Second, why don’t you just go back out? Don’t be home when they get here. Simple.”

She squints at him suspiciously. “Are you helping me?” 

Connor turns away, walking down the hall to the door to pick up Zoe’s work bag. “Maybe,” he says, tossing it to her. “I won’t tell them. I _do_ kind of owe you for stealing your speaker.” 

She stands up, looking at him with hesitant gratitude. “..Right. I guess I’ll be back at six then.”

He waves sarcastically. “Have fun, criminal.” The last thing he sees before she shuts the door behind her is her rolling eyes. 

Connor decides to go out back and sit on their porch steps, because it’s pretty nice out after all.

\---

At some point, Zoe snaps him a video of her driving along blasting and singing messily along to Teenage Dirtbag with a caption that says **i get it now** Connor laughs. **nerd (** He can’t stand Snapchat, but Zoe made him download it and add her recently because she refused to communicate any other way.) 

That night, Connor makes sure he’s downstairs when Zoe gets home. “Hi honey!” Cynthia greets her cheerfully. “How was work today?”

“Great!” Zoe says a little quickly. Their eyes meet and Connor has to look away to stop himself from laughing. Zoe bites her lip. 

“That’s good.” Their mom hums. “The Browns made some chocolate chip cookies, and I know we don’t normally eat sugar in this house but, they insisted I bring some home for you guys! Do you want one, Zoe? I’m sure you’re hungry, you always are after work.” Connor goes into the kitchen and takes the cookie out of his mom’s hand. “Connor-” she starts crossly. But then he hands it to Zoe when she walks in. 

“Here.” He mouths _Iron Maiden tickets_. And his sister bursts out into a giggle she immediately tries (and fails) to cover up before she accepts it. 

Their mom’s brow wrinkles in confusion, but she has a hesitant smile on her face. “Oh. Thank you Connor. What’s this about?”

“Nothing,” Zoe says through a mouthful of cookie. Connor smirks entirely unconvincingly. 

“Well, okay..” She says, starting to get out dishes to start making dinner. “How was _your_ day, Connor? Do anything fun?” 

“Nothing.” He repeats, meeting his sister’s gaze. _Thanks_ she mouths. 

Maybe, he decides, the two of them working together is something that should happen more often. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!! hope you enjoyed as much as I did :> if you're not coming from there, come hang out on [my deh blog](https://sincerely-nerdeh.tumblr.com/) ! ♥


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